


Not Exactly a Nuclear Family

by RedHoodie1723



Series: JayKyle Week 2020 [1]
Category: Green Lantern (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Anyways, Generation Outlaws (DCU) - Freeform, He inherited Bruce’s adoption addiction, Jason Todd is a Good Dad, Kyle Rayner is a Good Boyfriend, Kyle Rayner is a Good Dad, M/M, because she seems cool, he wants to be a dad, i stretched the prompt really far on this one, jason’s cousin is in here for a hot second, or at least, sorta?, your honor: these bois are in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26871145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHoodie1723/pseuds/RedHoodie1723
Summary: “Each of us has our own complicated pasts, but Jason loves us enough to look past it and help us make a better future for ourselves. So, yeah, we are his kids. Maybe not in the dictionary definition of the word, but in the more important aspects of the word.”orAfter two months of dating, Kyle finally gets to meet Jason’s ever so elusive kids.
Relationships: Duela Dent & Jason Todd, Faye "Ma" Gunn & Jason Todd, Faye Gunn & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Generation Outlaw, Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd, Sasha (DCU) & Jason Todd
Series: JayKyle Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960357
Comments: 6
Kudos: 111





	Not Exactly a Nuclear Family

**Author's Note:**

> For JayKyle Week Day 3: Accidental Baby Acquisition.
> 
> I stretched this prompt as far as it could possibly go lol

When Jason had told Kyle he wanted him to meet his family, Kyle was confused.

He had met the Bats before, on numerous occasions. He frequently worked with them, and he was friends with quite a few of them. So Kyle didn’t know what Jason meant by that. Maybe he wanted Kyle to re-meet them because they were dating now, but that also made zero sense considering Kyle has interacted with them multiple times since he and Jason announced that they were a thing.

So Kyle’s mind jumped to the next conclusion. One of Jason’s moms. Jason had a habit of picking up maternal figures. His biological mother and step mom were dead, as was Nocturna. But last Kyle heard, Catwoman and Talia al Ghul were still alive. But Kyle had met Catwoman before, and she was intimidating enough. Kyle didn’t know if he was ready to meet Jason’s even more intimidating assassin mom.

There was also the possibility that it would be the Outlaws. The only problem being, Kyle knew Roy, Rose, and Kori long before he got with Jason, and he had already met Bizzaro and Artemis recently. 

Kyle’s mind drew a blank.

When he asked Jason about it, Jason just snorted (which was adorable) and told Kyle he’d find out soon enough.

Kyle wanted to be frustrated with Jason, but he couldn’t find it within himself to be upset. There was something so pure in the way that Jason talked about this ‘family’, a sort of excitement and pride. It wasn’t like how he talked about the Bats, a little hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure of his standing with them, but still undyingly loyal. It also wasn’t like how he talked about any of his moms, safe but familiar, a known and old source of comfort for Jason. It also wasn’t how he talked about the Outlaws, with a practiced ease and a hint of joy.

These people, whoever they were, are new. At least, they were new to Kyle.

Jason has given him a few glimpses and clues as to their identities, and with each one Kyle seems to unlock a different side of Jason. A softer side that not many were privy to.

The slowing of the engine knocked Kyle out of his thoughts.

The car had stopped in front of a three story building. It was old, but still in good condition. There was a sign out front that read ‘Ma Gunn’s Home for Wayward Boys’. Kyle noticed a few items in the front yard, a scarf hanging over a bench, some toy parts that had been deconstructed, and a swing tied to a looming tree.

Kyle glanced to where Jason was sitting in the driver’s seat, looking radiant as ever, but with a foreign emotion written on his face. He wondered what this place had to do with Jason’s family. Kyle knew Jason was in and out of foster care and group homes after his mother died and before Bruce adopted him, maybe this was one of them? Jason never mentioned any one person or memory associated with these places that wasn’t negative or neutral, so Kyle didn’t have an inkling of who he was going to meet.

“This is it,” Jason said after a beat, turning to face Kyle. The mid-afternoon sun streamed through the car windows, lighting Jason’s face up with a gentle glow. Jason’s freckles had started to become more prominent with the more time he spent with Kyle in the California sun, and they dotted his face and the skin Kyle could see that wasn’t covered by the faded t-shirt Jason had on. His eyes changed colors like a kaleidoscope, shifting from Jason’s natural cool blue to the glowing green of the Lazarus Pit at random. Kyle could identify each of the emotions warring across his boyfriend’s face, ranging from hesitation and fear to joy and anticipation. Kyle didn’t know who he wasn’t going to meet, but he knew just how important this was to Jason.

Lunging forward, Kyle pressed a gentle kiss to Jason’s lips, the other man leaning to meet him.

One of Jason’s hands tangled into Kyle’s hair, and the other lay on the small of his back, holding Kyle close. He could stay like this forever, trapped in this embrace with Jason. No impending doom or real life problems. Just him and Jason.

But Kyle’s already learned that forever doesn’t exist in this life.

A knock sounded on the window of the passenger side, causing Kyle to jump in his seat, breaking the kiss. He barely registered the noise of disappointment Jason made, instead focusing on the stranger standing outside the car.

An elderly woman stood outside of the car, glaring down at Kyle, sending shivers down his spine. Her white hair was pulled up into a bun and despite her old age, she looked as if she was ready to fight God themselves. 

Kyle was frozen under the woman’s icy stare, his only reprieve being when her gaze shifted to fall on Jason. It melted considerably so after she caught sight of the other man, but still didn’t let up completely.

“Well?” She huffed, her voice slightly distorted through the glass window pane. “Are you coming inside or are you gonna to suck face all day?”

Kyle heard Jason snort behind him. He nudged Kyle’s elbow prompting him to move. Opening the car door and stepping out, Kyle noticed the shotgun hanging loosely from the woman’s hand. She could have shot them at any moment and they would have been too busy making out to even notice before it was too late. Hal would absolutely lose it laughing if he ever found out.

Dragging his eyes off the gun and back to the woman’s face (her eyes were eerily familiar to Jason’s natural color), Kyle gave her an admittedly weak smile and stook out his hand.

“Hi,” He said. “Kyle Rayner.”

She looked at his hand with contempt for a second before hesitantly taking it, shaking it, and immediately dropping it. “Faye Gunn, but everyone calls me Ma.”

_ Ma Gunn _ . This is the woman who runs this place.

“I can assume you’ve figured out Kyle is the boyfriend I’ve been telling you about,” Jason addressed the woman, leaning against the roof of their car, looking across at them.

“I would hope he was your boyfriend, I didn’t raise a cheater.”

“You didn’t raise me.”

“Don’t be ungrateful.”

Jason just sighed.

“The kids are waiting inside, don’t take too long,” Ma said curtly, before turning on her heel and heading back towards the house.

Kyle gave Jason a questioning look.

“My grandmother,” He said, as if that explained anything.

“Alfred got married?”

“What? No. Don’t ridiculous.”

Kyle huffed. “Well I’m sorry there wasn’t a more obvious solution.”

Jason just hummed at that.

“She is Willis’ mother. I spent a few months with her here as a child, before being officially adopted by Bruce. I didn’t know she was my grandmother back then, but I suspect she did.”

“And she still let you go to live with Bruce?” Kyle asked. A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“I don’t know her real motivations. But I suppose it might have had something to do with that fact that she was a crime lord. She might have been trying to keep me safe, although, I suppose she hadn’t realized she was allowing me to go live with The Batman of all people.”

“I saved her life a few years ago, and she allowed me and the rest of the Outlaws to stay here for a while.”

“Huh,” Kyle said. “I guess the crime lord thing runs in the family.’’

Jason shot a glare at him, but there was no heat behind it.

“Funny, Rayner.”

“Who are the kids?” Kyle asked, grabbing his and Jason’s bags from the trunk, tossing Jason’s at the other man.

Kyle didn’t miss Ma’s farewell words. Was she referring to the ‘Wayward Boys’ that this building supposedly houses? Or were there other kids in question here?

“My kids,” Jason answered simply, stopping Kyle in his tracks.

“Your kids? Jason? What do you mean your kids?” Kyle asked, his voice pitching with surprise. He and Jason had been dating for two months at this point, and Jason never mentioned fathering a child, much less multiple children. And not to mention that Kyle knows that Jason’s only previous sexual experience had been with either him, Roy, or Rose. And only one of those three could possibly carry a child and Rose has never been pregnant.

Maybe clones? Or alternate timeline/universe weirdness? Kyle doesn’t remember any of the Jason’s they met while multiverse hopping with Donna ever having any kids, but they didn’t visit every universe or meet every Jason.

“Calm down, they aren’t  _ mine mine,  _ but they are mine,” Jason said, leaving Kyle even more confused. But he didn’t give him any time to ask questions, as Jason started walking towards the building, bags under his arms. “You coming? Or are you just going to stand there?”

Kyle threw his bag onto his back, jogging to catch up to Jason.

Jason is lucky Kyle loves him, or he would be making a giant fuss right now.

Kyle snagged Jason’s hand as they entered through the front door, threading his fingers through Jason’s and squeezing lightly.

“You’re gonna love them,”Jason muttered quietly to him.

Jason pulled Kyle through the first door to the right once they entered the building, arriving in what seemed like the kitchen. At least ten people stood around the table, some in chairs, some sitting on the table itself, and some leaning against the wall.

Ma Gunn was there, sitting stiffly at the head of the table. To her right and left were two red-haired girls, they both looked the oldest of the kids. The one on the left’s hair stood up in wild directions, a wilder smile gracing her face. The girl to her opposite had scars littering her face and arms, but still gave Jason and Kyle a bright smile when they walked in.

The boy sitting next to the girl with the scars had soft pink hair ( _ salmon _ , the artist in Kyle supplied) and his body was made of various machine parts, with his face still human. He was leaning against the table next to another girl with bright blue hair, googles, and a pink nose. Her feet were lifted off the ground slightly, wisps of wind seemingly keeping her afloat.

A boy stood on the opposite side of the table, leaning against the wall. His body looked like it was made of hard rocks, and a bell started ringing in the back of Kyle’s mind, reminding him of the Doomsday clone the Teen Titans had encountered a few months ago. Next to him, was some kind of purple strands bonded together underneath a long flowing cape and hood. Glowing green eyes peered at him from under the mask they were wearing.

At the end of the table, a small toddler sat on top of the surface in a red dress with white polka dots. Blue eyes with a strange amount of intelligence (and way too much judgement) peered out at Kyle from under the child’s curly brunette bangs. A woman sat in a chair to the child’s right, next to the blue haired girl. She looked older, about Jason and Kyle’s age, with white hair and a somewhat passing resemblance to both Jason and Ma Gunn. On her lap sat a boy around 9 or 10, with stark blonde hair and glowing blue eyes. His body was made of some weird smooth, metal and he had a glowing circle placed on his chest.

“So, this is your boyfriend you won’t shut up about, Mr. Hood?” The blue haired girl spoke first, leaning forward the perch her elbows on the table and her hands under her chin, her feet floating a few more feet off the ground.

Jason ignored her, turning to address the room. “This is Kyle. Kyle, these are the kids and Faye.”

Jason gestured to the two girls sitting next to Ma. Pointing to the girl on the left with the wild hair Jason said: “That’s Deula,” and then he pointed to the girl with the scars, “And that is Sasha.”

Duela gave him a wide grin and Sasha threw up a small wave.

Moving down the table, Jason pointed to the pink-haired boy and blue-haired girl. “This is Devin, and the bane of my existence, Clara.”

“Please, I am totally your favorite.”

“I don’t have favorites,” Jason said with an endearing smile.

“The two by the wall are DNA and Reiser,” Jason said, nodding to the cloaked figure and the Doomsday clone respectively.

“This menace is Mable,” Jason pointed at the toddler, who only met Jason’s grin with an unimpressed eye-roll (since when did toddlers get so sassy).

“And this is my cousin Faye-” The white-haired woman gave him a polite smile. “-and that is Caden.” The little boy raised his nose up at Kyle, before turning back to face Jason.

“Kyle is staying all weekend, so please be nice.”

“You should know by now that that’s a lost cause,” Sasha snorted. “But nice try.”

“Can anyone take Kyle to my room and give him a tour?” Jason asked. “I have to talk to Faye a minute.”

Clara jumped up, about to volunteer, only to be interrupted by Jason.

“Anyone but Clara.”

The teen slumped back into her chair, pouting, mumbling something along the lines of ‘you show one guest the duffle bag with the heads and suddenly  _ you’re _ the bad guy’.

Devin shot her a smirk before walking over to Kyle. “I got this,” He shot back at Jason, grabbing Kyle’s elbow and practically dragging Kyle out of the room.

Kyle followed behind the pink-haired teen, noticing the quiet whirring noises the mechanical parts made as Devin walked.

They only got through the living area, dining hall, and the laundry room before Kyle’s curiosity took hold.

“So, what's the deal?”

Devin looked back at Kyle, one eyebrow raised.

“The deal. With you, with them. All of this. I had no idea Jason had kids until 30 minutes ago,” Kyle said, frustration bleeding into his voice. He thought Jason would have trusted him with something like this earlier, something so important as Jason having kids. The only solace Kyle had is the fact that at least Jason trusted him now.

“We aren’t actually his kids. Not biologically or legally, in fact, half of us don’t even exist in the eyes of the government. But…” Devin trailed off, looking like he was gathering his thoughts. Looking back up to look Kyle in the eye, he continued. “He took us in, taught us to be better than the villains Luthor was trying to make us into. For a lot of us, he was the first person who cared about us in a long time, not because of an ulterior motive, but because he saw something good inside of us that even we didn’t see ourselves.

“Each of us has our own complicated pasts, but Jason loves us enough to look past it and help us make a better future for ourselves. So, yeah, we are his kids. Maybe not in the dictionary definition of the word, but in the more important aspects of the word.”

Kyle stood silently. He was always better at conveying emotions through a pencil and a piece of sketching paper, not really with words. 

He knew Jason had a bleeding heart, how much he cares for everyone around him (even if he was bad at showing it), so Kyle can’t say he was too surprised. Looking at the awkward earnestness of the teen, Kyle knew so much the kids looked up to and cared about Jason in turn, it was hard to miss.

“I hope I didn’t make things too awkward, Jason told us not to scare you off.”

“Nothing could scare me away from Jason, I love that moron too much. And besides, it’s… sweet. It’s nice to see Jason so happy and carefree like he was with you all earlier. He seems to really care for you too,” Kyle said, placing a light hand on his shoulder. Devin’s eyes briefly glanced over the Green Lantern ring on Kyle’s hand, but his identity has never been that big of a secret.

Devin gave him a small smile. “Thanks, and… he cares for you too.”

\------

That night, after dinner, Kyle lay in their bed at Ma Gunn’s home. Kyle reflected on the day’s events with a smile of his face. He had gotten to know some of the kids better after the tour, and had been able to watch them interact with Jason with such ease and familiarity. It felt… nice. Like Kyle was part of their little family for just a moment.

And that surprised him.

When he was young, he always thought he’d have that classic American dream, settle down with a girl, have a few kids, a white picket fence house, and a dog.

When he got his ring, that reality seemed further away than ever, but Kyle didn’t mind, because that wasn’t a reality he wanted anymore. He wanted the feeling of flying free, saving people, being a part of something bigger than himself. It felt… fulfilling, infinitely more so than Kyle’s original plan for the future. But something was missing.

Someone was missing.

Kyle had to wonder, what if it was Jason? The possibility of growing old together,or at least fighting side by side until the end, was one that Kyle was more than willing to entertain. But having a family? Kids? Maybe becoming a part of this family? Kyle could only dream.

There was just something so enticing about having this with Jason, something Kyle had long since given up hope of having.

He had the Lanterns and he had his friends. It was selfish to ask for more, but after years of saving the world time and time again, Kyle thinks he deserves to be a little selfish.

But… there was something bothering him.

Kyle looked down at Jason.

His head rested on Kyle’s shoulder, Jason’s hand on his torso. One of his legs was draped across Kyle’s own, and one of Kyle’s arms wrapped around Jason to rest on his shoulder.

Jason’s eyes were closed, his long eyelashes resting delicately on his cheek, but his breathing was fast enough to clue Kyle into the fact that his boyfriend was still wide awake.

Jason looked content, at peace, here in Kyle’s arms, and Kyle wanted so badly to not ruin the moment, to let Jason rest, but he couldn’t. There was something plaguing his mind that he just couldn’t let go.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kyle’s voice was barely above a whisper, but he knew Jason heard him.

“I was scared,” Jason answered after a minute. His hot breath tickled Kyle’s bare skin, as Jason hadn’t looked up to speak.

“Scared of what?” Kyle asked, trying to keep any judgement out of his voice.

“Losing you… losing this,” Jason’s voice was delicate and vulnerable as he spoke in quiet tones.

“It was irrational, I know, but I don’t know what I would do if things didn’t go right. If you didn’t like the kids, or they disproved of you. Because I love you, Kyle, I love you so, so much, but they’re my kids, and I will always put them first.”

“I know that if it came down to it, and I had to choose one over the other, I would choose them. And it would hurt, because I can’t lose you, Kyle. I- I was stupid and selfish, I thought I could buy more time with you, if I didn’t say anything.

“I’d understand if you want to end things, if you changed your mind. I-” Kyle pulled Jason up into a kiss. It was slightly awkward, mainly due to the positioning, and because of Jason’s momentary shock, but they quickly melted into it.

Jason shifted his body to straddle Kyle, one hand placed delicately on Kyle’s shoulder and the other cupping his jaw. Kyle’s hands snaked up Jason’s arms and shoulders, then down his back to rest on Jason’s hips, holding the other close.

Kyle leaned forward to kiss Jason harder, only to pull away after a few seconds. Resting his forehead against Jason’s own, he heard Jason’s small pants as he recovered from the kiss. Jason’s eyes were lidded and after taking a moment to recover, he looked back up at Kyle through his eyelashes, those beautiful blue-green eyes holding more love and depth than Kyle could ever dream of capturing on paper.

“Jason, baby, darling, I love you. I would be a fool to ever leave you over something as amazing as those kids. Each and every one of them are unique and amazing kids, who clearly love and adore you. I can only hope to stay by your side forever, and if those kids are there as well? Then I will gladly love and care for them as you do, and it would be my personal honor to do so.

“I’m not leaving, I’ll never leave you. I will always love you, okay?” Kyle stated, only hoping his voice could convey the love and devotion for the man he was holding.

A smile pulled at the corner’s on Jason’s mouth.

“Okay.”


End file.
